Barrie Film Festival

Before You Know It - 7:30pm
2019-10-21 19:30 - 21:08 (America/Toronto) | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Before You Know It
Co-written and Directed by: Hannah Pearl Utt
Cast: Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock, Judith Light, Mike Colter, Alec Baldwin, Mandy Patinkin
Comedy/Drama | PG for language | 98 min. | USA
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Monday, October 21 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 27 – 8:15 pm

“A noteworthy work from an upcoming dynamic duo, co-writers Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock, who have a chemistry that you want to see in more films, especially if they’re like Before You Know It.” – Nick Allen, RogerEbert.com

“Before You Know It shifts seamlessly from quirky to sad to mysterious to wacky to surreal within just the space of a few days, so much so that you’d never know it’s director Hannah Pearl Utt’s feature filmmaking debut.” – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com

“The story is one of insecurity, veracity, and vulnerability, a little movie with a natural sincerity that you won’t find in huge studio films.” – Louisa Moore, Screen Zealots

Stage manager Rachel Gurner still lives in her childhood apartment—along with her off-kilter actress sister, Jackie; eccentric playwright father Mel; and deadpan preteen niece Dodge—above the tiny theatre they own and operate. Level-headed and turtleneck-wearing Rachel is the only thing standing between her family and utter chaos. Then, in the wake of a sudden family tragedy, Rachel and Jackie learn their presumed-deceased mother is actually alive and thriving as a soap-opera star. Now the sisters’ already-precarious balance turns upside down, and Rachel must figure out how to liberate herself from this surreal scenario.

3 Nominations:
Nominated – Best American Independent Feature Film, Cleveland International Film Festival, 2019
Nominated – Narrative Feature Competition, Dallas International Film Festival, 2019
Nominated – Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic, Sundance Film Festival, 2019

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The Biggest Little Farm - 4:30pm
2019-10-21 16:30 - 18:02 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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• Environment Series

The Biggest Little Farm
Director: John Chester
Documentary | PG for mild thematic elements | 92 min. | USA
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Saturday, October 19 – 1:00 pm
Monday, October 21 – 4:30 pm

“Very warm. A family film in the best sense of the words.” – Charles Solomon, FILMWEEK
“In its modest way, “The Biggest Little Farm” offers hope, and even suggests a way forward.” – G. Allen Johnson, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature’s conflicts, the Chesters unlock and uncover a bio diverse design for living that exists far beyond their farm, its seasons, and our wildest imagination. Featuring breathtaking cinematography, captivating animals, and an urgent message to heed Mother Nature’s call, The Biggest Little Farm provides us all a vital blueprint for better living and a healthier planet.

11 WINS, 8 NOMINATIONS:
NOMINATED – People’s Choice Award, Documentary, Toronto International Film Festival, 2018
WON – Audience Award for Best Documentary, Sarasota Film Festival, 2019
WON – Director’s Choice Award for Best Documentary, Sedona International Film Festival, 2019
WON – Best Feature Documentary & Feature Length Film, Boulder International Film Festival, 2019
WON – Best Documentary, Film Club’s The Lost Weekend, 2019
WON – Truly Moving Picture Award, Heartland Film, 2019
WON – Audience Award, Culinary Film, Newport Beach Film Festival, 2019
WON – Audience Award/American Independents, AFI Fest, 2018
NOMINATED – Best Documentary, Denver International Film Festival, 2018

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Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am - 4:00pm
2019-10-21 16:00 - 18:00 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Directed by: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
With: Toni Morrison, Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, Russell Banks and Fran Lebowitz
Documentary | PG for some disturbing images/thematic material and language | 120 min. | USA

Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Monday, October 21 – 4:00 pm
Sunday, October 27 – 3:30 pm

“This rousing documentary celebrates the acts of writing and reading, and of language itself as an immortal expression of innate humanness.” – Ken Eisner, Georgia Straight
“Toni Morrison was a treasure, and “The Pieces I Am” paints a luminous portrait of this cherished writer.” – Adam Lubitow, Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prizewinner. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, including novels “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula” and “Song of Solomon,” her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

3 WINS, 1 NOMINATION:
WON – Audience Award-U.S. Documentary, Cinetopia Film Festival, 2019
WON – Local Heroes Competition, Cleveland International Film Festival, 2019
WON – Audience Award-Best Documentary Feature, Wisconsin Film Festival, 2019
NOMINATED – Best Documentary, Miami Film Festival, 2019

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In Fabric - 7:30pm
2019-10-20 19:30 - 21:28 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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In Fabric
Written and Directed by: Peter Strickland
Cast: Hayley Squires, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Leo Bill, Julian Barratt, Steve Oram and Gwendoline Christie
Comedy/Horror | 18A for strong sexual content including a scene of aberrant behaviour, and some bloody images | 118 min. | English/French with English subtitles | United Kingdom
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Sunday, October 20 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 26 – 7:00 pm

“Deliciously retro, nastily funny, but siding with those wrung out by the cycle of labor and consumption, In Fabric deserves a spot next to Sorry to Bother You in the hall of great anti-capitalist comedies.”– Joule Zelman, THE STRANGER (Seattle, WA)
“Glamorously surreal, darkly funny, and avidly maniacal, this effort is uplifted by a turbulent and surprising finale.” – Filipe Freitas, ALWAYS GOOD MOVIES

Recently separated from her husband, a lonely woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), visits a bewitching London department store in search of a dress that will transform her life. She’s fitted with a perfectly flattering, blood-red gown… which in time will come to unleash a malevolent curse of unstoppable evil threatening all who cross its path. From acclaimed horror director Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy) comes a truly nightmarish film, at turns frightening, seductive, and darkly humorous. Channeling voyeuristic fantasies of high fashion and bloodshed, In Fabric is Strickland’s most twisted and brilliantly original vision yet.

8 WINS, 13 NOMINATIONS:
WON – Best Director, Austin Fantastic Fest, 2018
WON – Best Narrative Feature, Calgary Underground Film Festival, 2019
WON – Audience Award, Cinetopia Film Festival, 2019
WON – International Fantasy Film Award, Special Jury Prize, Fantasporto, 2019
WON – 20 Minutes of Audacity Prize, Best Cinematography, Les Arcs European
Film Festival, 2018
NOMINATED – Best Feature Film, Imagine Film Festival, NL, 2019
NOMINATED – Best Films Opening 2019, Indiewire Critics’ Poll, 2018
NOMINATED – Best Film, London Film Festival, 2018
NOMINATED – People’s Choice Award, Montréal Festival of New Cinema, 2018

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Pavarotti - 7:00pm
2019-10-20 19:00 - 20:54 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Pavarotti
Directed by: Ron Howard
Documentary/Biography | PG for coarse language | 114 min. | USA/United Kingdom

Click Here to Buy Tickets

SCREENING:
Sunday, October 20 – 7:00 pm
Thursday, October 24 – 4:30 pm

“It’s an engaging film, filled with vintage snapshots, interviews with friends and former colleagues, and, most of all, that marvelously distinctive voice, with all the emotion it could convey.” – Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“It is done respectfully and lovingly, with the occasional criticism that he could be demanding.” – Alison Rowat, The Herald (Scotland)
“Ron Howard’s documentary doesn’t just make you miss the singer. It makes you miss, of all things, a robust music industry.” – Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

The award-winning filmmaking team behind the hit documentary The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years turns to another musical phenomenon with Pavarotti, an in-depth, no holds barred look at the life, career and lasting legacy of a musical icon. Dubbed “The People’s Tenor,” Pavarotti was the rare combination of personality, genius and celebrity, using his prodigious gifts to spread the gospel of opera as entertainment and a genre to be enjoyed by music lovers of all kinds. Featuring never-before-seen footage and rare interviews with his family and colleagues, the film brilliantly demonstrates that through the sheer force of his talent, Pavarotti ultimately commanded the great stages of the world in addition to capturing the hearts of audiences everywhere. This look at a remarkable man and musical giant is directed by Academy Award® winner Ron Howard.

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Tel Aviv on Fire - 5:15pm
2019-10-20 17:15 - 18:55 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Tel Aviv On Fire
Co-written and Directed by: Sameh Zoabi
Cast: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Nadim Sawalha
Comedy/Drama | PG for minor language | 100 min. | Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles | Luxembourg/Belgium/Israel/France
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Saturday, October 19 – 1:30 pm
Sunday, October 20 – 5:15 pm

“In offering a comedic take on not just the hostility between Israelis and Palestinians, but also the shared history and culture that bind them, “Tel Aviv on Fire” is an enjoyable respite from the bleakness that is far more typical of their stories.” – Vanessa H. Larson, Washington Post
“Zoabi relies on the old adage that we have more in common than not, but it’s a lesson that bears repeating – particularly when laughs come with it.” – David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle

Salam, a charming 30-year-old Palestinian living in Jerusalem, works as an intern on a popular Palestinian soap opera, “Tel Aviv on Fire,” which is produced in Ramallah. Every day Salam must pass through an arduous Israeli checkpoint to reach the television studios. He meets the commander of the check-point, Assi, whose wife is a huge fan of the show. In order to impress her, Assi gets involved in the writing of the show. Salam soon realizes that Assi’s ideas could get him a promotion as a screenwriter. Salam’s creative career catches fire, until Assi and the soap’s financial backers disagree on how the soap opera should end. Squeezed between an Army Officer and the Arab backers, Salam can only solve his problems with a final master stroke.

7 WINS, 11 NOMINATIONS:
WON – Best Screenplay, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, 2018
WON – Israeli Film Competition/Best Film, Haifa International Film Festival, 2018
WON – Audience Choice Award/World Cinema-Narrative, Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, 2019
WON – Audience Award/Best in World Cinema, Sarasota Film Festival, 2019
WON – Best Film, Seattle International Film Festival, 2019
NOMINATED – Best Film/Best Screenplay, Awards of the Israeli Film Academy, 2019
NOMINATED – Spirit of the Festival Award, Cork International Film Festival, 2018

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Killing Patient Zero - 4:00pm
2019-10-20 16:00 - 17:40 | 2021 Short Film Competition Awards
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Killing Patient Zero
Written and Directed by: Laurie Lynd
Documentary | 14A for mature thematics | 100 min. | Canada
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Sunday, October 20 – 4:00 pm [Q&A]
Tuesday, October 22 – 4:30 pm

GUEST Q&A | Oct 20, 4:00 pm

Laurie Lynd is a Directors Guild of Canada and Genie award winning writer/director whose film work has been screened at dozens of international film festivals, including SUNDANCE, TIFF and MOMA’s New Directors/New Films; his television work has aired on BBC, Sky TV, Logo, Showtime, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, CBC, CTV, CITY, A&E, Discovery and many other networks.

“Lynd has restored Dugas to imperfect flesh and blood. That is achievement enough.” – Stephen Rodrick, Globe and Mail
“An exposé of a long ago “fake news” story, and an uncomfortable reminder of an uncomfortable era. AIDS may now be treatable, but the fire of ignorance and moral judgment are still in our social DNA.” – Jim Slotek, Original Cin

After the Stonewall riots and at the height of the gay liberation movement in America, an entire generation busy celebrating its newfound emancipation was unaware of an impending epidemic – a disease that proved to be largely ignored by politicians and the mainstream media. Gaetan Dugas was a French-Canadian flight attendant who offered to help early scientific research into the origins of this new disease but an unfortunate series of events followed, and he would eventually be vilified as Patient Zero, the man who gave society AIDS. Based on Richard McKay’s groundbreaking book, Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic, this feature documentary clears Dugas of being anything other than a highly sexually active gay man, someone who – like hundreds of other gay men – refused to be re-pathologized by the scientists and doctors of the time. Many gay men and women who lived through that terrible time were also interviewed here, most notably, Fran Lebowitz.

NOMINATED – Audience Award, Best Documentary, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2019

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Willie - 3:15pm
2019-10-20 15:15 - 16:44 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Willie
Directed by: Laurence Mathieu-Leger
With: Willie O’Ree, Ted Leonsis
Documentary | PG | 89 min. | Canada
Click Here to buy tickets
SCREENING:
Friday, October 18 – 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 20 – 3:15 pm

In a country filled with hockey heroes, Willie O’Ree stands amongst the greats. In 1958, he broke the colour barrier, becoming the first Black player in the National Hockey League. Sixty years later, his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame made history again. The youngest of 13 children and a descendant of escaped slaves, O’Ree rose from humble beginnings in Fredericton, New Brunswick, to a 22-year pro hockey career that intersected with the civil rights movement. His talent on the ice was only a fraction of his impact on the game; in 1998, he became the NHL’s diversity ambassador, with a focus on creating opportunities for kids who never had a chance to lace up a pair of skates. In Willie, everyone from his oldest friends to a new generation of players come together to honour a man dedicated to improving the world through a sport he loves. (Alexander Rogalski, Hot Docs)

NOMINATED – Best Documentary, Audience Award, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2019

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Modified - 1:30pm
2019-10-20 13:30 - 14:57 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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• Environment Series

Modified (A Food Lover’s Journey into GMOs)
Written and Directed by: Aube Giroux
Documentary | PG | 87 min. | Canada/USA/France
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING: Sunday, October 20 – 1:30 pm

“MODIFIED is a very personal, tender, touching tribute and a well-researched, enlightening and powerful documentary” – Chef Jacques Pépin
“Playfully and personally encourages audiences to understand the food they eat.” – POV Magazine

In this multi award-winning documentary, filmmaker Aube Giroux and her mother embark on a very personal and poignant investigative journey to find out why genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not labeled on food products in the United States and Canada, despite being labeled in 64 countries around the world.
Interweaving the personal with the political, the film is anchored around the filmmaker’s relationship to her mom, a gardener and food activist who battled cancer during the film’s production. Their intimate mother-daughter quest for answers, fuelled by a shared love of food, reveals the extent to which the agribusiness industry controls our food policies, making a strong case for a more transparent and sustainable food system.

AN OFFICIAL SELECTION AT OVER 60 INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS.
WINNER OF 14 AWARDS, BROADCAST MEDIA AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY.

Won – Audience Award/Best East Coast Film, Festival international du cinema francophone en Acadie, 2017
Won – Newcomer Jury Prize, Green Screen International Wildlife Film Festival, 2018
Won – World Cinema Award for Best Documentary, Phoenix Film Festival, 2019
Won – People’s Choice Award, Audience Choice Award, Vermont International Film Festival, 2018

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All is True - 1:00pm
2019-10-20 13:00 - 14:41 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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All is True
Written and Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Jack Colgrave Hirst, Lolita Chakrrabarti and Ian McKellen
Biography/Drama | PG for suggestive material and language | 101 min. | United Kingdom

Click Here to Buy Tickets

SCREENING:
Sunday, October 20 – 1:00 pm
Wednesday, October 23 – 4:00 pm

“Ben Elton’s well-researched and cleverly built script offers plenty of delights for fans of the Bard, further enhanced with Branagh’s fine direction and its wonderful cast.” – Cate Marquis, We Are Movie Geeks
“These guys know their Bard, and they’ve come up with a wonderful homage – witty, atmospheric, at times heartbreaking – to both the towering genius of myth and the oh-so-fallible man within.” – Lisa Jensen, Good Times Santa Cruz

The year is 1613 and William Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. When disaster strikes after his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground, the playwright is devastated and returns to Stratford, where he must face his troubled past and a neglected family. Haunted by the death of his only son Hamnet, Shakespeare struggles to mend the broken relationships with his wife and daughters and in so doing, is ruthlessly forced to examine his failings as a husband and father. His very personal search for the truth uncovers secrets and lies hidden within the binding ties of a family at war.

1 Win, 3 Nominations:
Won – Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench), ARP Movies for Grownups Awards, 2019
Nominated – Best Director (Kenneth Branagh), Best Supporting Actor (Ian McKellen), Best Grown Up Love Story, ARP Movies for Grownups Awards, 2019

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Pain and Glory - 7:30pm
2019-10-19 19:30 - 21:23 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Pain and Glory (Dolor y gloria)
Written and Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Serrano and Penelope Cruz
Drama | 14A for mature thematics, drug use, some nudity and coarse language | 113 min. | Spanish with English subtitles | Spain

Click Here to Buy Tickets

SCREENING:
Saturday, October 19 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 26 – 4:30 pm

“Pain and Glory is Almodóvar’s best work for years, marvellously framed and composed, comparatively restrained for him, hugely enjoyable moment by moment.” – David Sexton, London Evening Standard
“While we’re never quite sure how much is direct autobiography, the result is revealing, hugely emotive and arguably his most mature work to date.” – Trevor Johnston, Radio Times

Pain and Glory presents a series of re-encounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.

4 WINS, 10 NOMINATIONS:
Won – Best Actor (Antonio Banderas), Best Composer/Nominee Palme d’Or/Queer Palm, Cannes Film Festival, 2019
Won – Prix du Jury/Best Actor (Banderas), International Cinephile Society Awards, 2019
NOMINATED – Best International Film, Jerusalem Film Festival, 2019
NOMINATED – Best Film, Sydney Film Festival, 2019

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Short Film Showcase/Awards - 6:30pm
2019-10-19 18:30 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Short Film Showcase
Saturday, October 19, 6:30 pm
Uptown Theatre, 55 Dunlop Street West, Barrie
Tickets: $10 – Click Here to Buy Tickets!

Presenting a highly varied selection of films submitted by regional, national and international filmmakers and curated by our panel of judges. All of the short films screened at the event will be eligible for the People’s Choice Award and ballots for voting will be available at the screening. The awards for all categories will be announced directly following the screening at the Filmmakers’ Party, which this year will be held at the Sandbox Centre. A very big thank you to all those who submitted their work!

Short Film Line-up
Please note that this program is unrated and may contain coarse language, bullying, adult themes, drug and sexual references.

The Change
Writer/Director: Derby McNulty | 5:01 | High School Category | Canada
Struggling with artistic creativity, Alex tries to change his life.

The Interview
Writer/Director: Noah Helinski | 4:54 | Simcoe County Category | Canada
A con-man describes his foolproof plan of using job interviews to steal people’s identities.

Life Via Rail
Documentary | Director: Jonny Micay | Producer: Ethan Godel | 8:48 | Open Category | Canada
Life Via Rail tells the story of Jason Shron, a train enthusiast from Canada who abandoned a prestigious phD program to pursue his dream of a career in the model train industry.

Otto & Bradley: Something Fishy
Studio Venti (3rd yr. film group at Sheridan) | Animation Director: Jennifer Yun | 6:27 | Simcoe County Category | Canada
Otto, a young cat barista, is accused of a crime he didn’t commit: stealing the tropical fish at Ruffley’s Aquarium. With the help of his co-worker Bradley, the two go on an epic chase for the true culprit!

The Literalist
Director: Lori Ann Potts | Writer/Producer: Nicole Bach | 3:49 | Open Category | USA
A professor visits a coffee shop to grade papers but keeps getting distracted by other customers and her own imagination.

One (UNO)
Director/Producer: Javier Marco Rico | Writer: Belén Sánchez-Arévalo | 10:00 | Open Category | Spanish with English subtitles | Spain
Far out at sea, a cell phone floating inside an air-tight bag starts to ring.

Oracle
Director/Writer: Aaron Poole | Producer: Breann Smordin | 8:41 | Open Category | Canada
As home renovations surround a child, the chaos of construction and his parents’ preoccupation are internalized, precipitating a fever dream that catapults his consciousness into adult realms of obsession and dread.

Memories
Director: Ian Rayburn | Writer/Producer: Christopher Pirri | 6:55 | Open Category | Canada
A film about the love, loss and acceptance that comes with the death of a loved one.

Our Reality Is Happy
Documentary | Director/Writer/Producer: Aniyah Faisal | 4:22 | High School Category | Urdu with English subtitles | Canada
A story of two child domestic workers finding happiness together, given their everyday reality.

Lobsters
Comedy | Director: Matt Huntley | 4:00 | Open Category | UK
Mark, a lonely man in a caravan park has found his soulmate, his neighbour Tanya. He drifts off into a fantasy about their future together. Everything would be perfect…if it wasn’t for Dave.

Tough Love
Writer/Director: Nicholas Dragas | Producer: Denise Bodan | 4:37 | Open Category | Canada
An aspiring writer attempts to create his romantic masterpiece, while struggling to accept a lack of passion in his own life.

Ian, A Moving Story
Director: Abel Goldfarb | Writer: Gastón Gorali | 9:00 | Open Category | Argentina
Ian was born with cerebral palsy. Like all kids, he wants to have friends, but discrimination and bullying keep him from his beloved playground. Ian won’t give up easily, accomplishing something that will surprise everyone.

This is a Teenage Love Letter
Director: Tessa Hill | 6:49 | High School Category | Canada
A young woman writes a letter to her past, to love, and to what the future might hold.

Six Stops West
Director/Writer: Noah Gehman | 5:15 |High School Category | Canada
A young woman wants to connect with the world, she just doesn’t know how.

Boy Bye
Director/Writer: Mitch Graszat | 10:00 | Simcoe County Category | Canada
A bank robbery gone right… At least that’s what she thinks.

Sunday Service
Director/Producer: Neil Shearer | Writer: Nikita Adoni | 8:00 | Simcoe County Category | Canada
A girl who is on a blind first date becomes increasingly uncomfortable when her date’s (extended) family begins to show up.

Seeing Sound
Documentary | Director: Alec Jordan | With: Jacob Way-White | 4:31 | Simcoe County Category | Canada
A short documentary about a young musician who is unable to read sheet music and couldn’t care less if his socks match or not. The story showcases his skills on various musical instruments including the accordion.

Hearth
Director/Writer/Producer: Max Shoham | 1:10 | High School Category | Canada
Hearth is a sixty second animation that explores the connection between citizens in a village: it attempts to show the power of giving, and how each and every citizen can make a contribution to the greater good. When we all give a bit of ourselves, the entire village benefits.

Awards Presentation / Filmmakers’ Party
Saturday, October 19, 9:00 pm
Sandbox Centre, 24 Maple Avenue, 2nd Floor, Barrie
Admission: Free

Immediately following the Short Film Showcase, please join us at the Sandbox Centre for the awards presentation and some celebrating! Always a fun party, this event offers an opportunity to mingle with the filmmakers, to enjoy some excellent music (courtesy of DJ Casey George) and to feast on some fabulous nibblies, this year provided by Cocina Mexicana Restaurant and J’adore Fine Cheese & Chocolate.

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Sometimes Always Never - 5:15pm
2019-10-19 17:15 - 18:46 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Sometimes Always Never
Directed by: Carl Hunter
Cast: Bill Nighy, Sam Riley, Alice Rowe, Tim McInnerny, Jenny Agutter
Comedy/Drama/Mystery | PG for coarse language | 91 min. | United Kingdom

Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Saturday, October 19 – 5:15 pm
Sunday, October 27 – 6:30 pm

“A distinct, articulate pleasure.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“The kind of role Nighy was born to play.” – Joni Blyth – One Room With a View

“Screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, who adapted the film from his own short story, has crafted a joy of a script, which seeds its themes as elegantly as Nighy’s character, Alan, a Scrabble-obsessed tailor, wears his suits.” – Wendy Ide, Observer (UK)
Able to blend charming gruffness and winning affability with just the raise of an eyebrow, Bill Nighy has long proven himself one of Britain’s best character actors, and now he stars alongside Sam Riley and Alice Lowe in this stylish and heartfelt comedy-drama about a tailor searching for a lost son. Sharp of both suit and vocabulary, Nighy (The Bookshop), is winningly deadpan as Scrabble-obsessed Merseyside tailor Alan, whose eldest son Michael stormed out of the house after a particularly heated round of the popular board game, never to return. Years later, Alan and his other son Peter (Sam Riley) continue the search while trying to repair their own strained relationship. Working from a witty and astute script by veteran screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce (The Railway Man, Goodbye Christopher Robin), director Carl Hunter deploys a vivid visual style and striking production design to capture the shifting moods of a family who know plenty of words but struggle to communicate.

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David Crosby: Remember My Name - 3:30pm
2019-10-19 15:30 - 17:05 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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David Crosby: Remember My Name
Director: A.J. Eaton
With: David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Cameron Crowe
Documentary | PG for language, drug material, nudity and brief violence | 93 min. | USA
Click Here to Buy Tickets
SCREENING:
Saturday, October 19 – 3:30 pm
Saturday, October 26 – 5:15 pm

“Crosby presents a reflective, irascible, observant and irresistibly candid figure in a documentary that ostensibly chronicles one of his many comeback tours but becomes something far more introspective.” – Ann Homaday, WASHINGTON POST
“Rarely have we seen such an unvarnished, unflattering and revealingly real portrait of a music star.” – Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune

A triumph at Sundance, this inspired collaboration between director A.J. Eaton and producer Cameron Crowe coaxes singer-songwriter Crosby – a member of three major groups in music history: The Byrds; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – into unflinching candour as he confronts his mortality and assesses the damage of earlier days. At the same time, his redemptive journey back to performing is universally inspiring and uplifting, bearing an emotional impact that transcends the rock documentary genre. Taking viewers through soaring career highs, along with the chemical variety that led to ravaging addictions and serious prison time, this intimate cinematic portrait explodes myths and sheds profound new light on all the music, politics, and personalities encountered on his incredible — and ongoing — journey.

1 Win, 2 Nominations:
Won – Best Music Documentary, Boulder International Film Festival, 2019
Nominated – Best Documentary Film, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, 2019
Nominated – Grand Jury Prize Documentary, Sundance Film Festival, 2019

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Tel Aviv on Fire - 1:30pm
2019-10-19 13:30 - 15:10 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

The Biggest Little Farm - 1:00pm
2019-10-19 13:00 - 14:32 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

Opening Night Party - 9:00pm
2019-10-18 21:00 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
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Opening Night Party
Friday, October 18, 9:00 pm (doors open 8:30 pm)
Uptown Theatre Lobby, 55 Dunlop Street West, Barrie
Party Tickets: $15 Film Tickets: $10

Celebrate the launch of our 22nd Barrie Film Festival at this not-to-be missed Opening Night Film and Party. Start the evening with the compelling Canadian documentary Willie, which chronicles the life story of Willie O’Ree who became the first black player in the National Hockey League and whose career had a lasting impact on the game.

After the screening, exit the theatre and come back into the Uptown Theatre through the main lobby for the Opening Night Party where DJ Matt Shaw will provide a great selection of music and Michael & Marion’s Restaurant will serve up a tempting array of tasty hors d’oeuvres.

Film Tickets are sold separately.

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Willie - 7:30pm
2019-10-18 19:30 - 20:59 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

The Invisibles - 7PM
2019-10-03 19:00 - 20:50, 2019-10-02 19:00 - 20:50 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
The Invisibles
Screening:
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 – 4pm, 7pm
Thursday, October 3, 2019 – 4pm, 7pm
Location: Uptown Theatre, 55 Dunlop St. W., Barrie

Co-written and Directed by: Claus Räfle
Cast: Max Mauff, Alice Dwyer, Ruby O. Fee, Aaron Altaras, Florian Lukas, Andreas Schmidt, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Lucas Reiber, Sergej Moya
Drama/Biography/History, PG for mature content, 110 minutes,
Language: German with English subtitles (Germany)

“The Invisibles, about humans as living ghosts, needs to be seen, and believed.” – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
“A film like The Invisibles is part of bearing ‘precise witness.’ We clearly need reminders, and constant ones, of the end result of ‘otherizing’ an entire group of people.” – Sheila O’Malley, RogerEbert.com

While Goebbels infamously declared Berlin “free of Jews” in 1943, 1,700 managed to survive in the Nazi capital. Claus Räfle’s gripping docudrama traces the stories of four real-life survivors who learned to hide in plain sight.
Moving between cinemas, cafés and safe houses, they dodged Nazi officials and a dense network of spies and informants. Yet their prudence was at odds with their youthful recklessness, prompting them to join the resistance, forge passports, or pose as Aryan war widows. Masterfully weaving these story threads together, THE INVISIBLES is a testament to the resourcefulness, willpower and sheer chance needed to survive against incredible odds.

Awards:
Nominated, Best Feature, Hamburg Film Festival, 2017
Nominated, Audience Award, World Cinema, Mill Valley Film Festival, 2017
Winner, Audience Award, Best Narrative Feature, Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, 2018

Film tickets: $10 for Adults, $8 for Seniors/Students
Advance tickets are available online and at the Uptown Theatre box office two weeks before screening (in the evenings an hour before their first screening). HST is included in the ticket price.

The Invisibles - 4PM
2019-10-03 16:00 - 17:50, 2019-10-02 16:00 - 17:50 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

Echo In The Canyon - 7PM
2019-09-19 19:00 - 20:22 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
Echo In The Canyon

Screening: Thursday, September 19, 2019 – 4pm, 7pm
Uptown Theatre, 55 Dunlop St. W., Barrie

Also being shown as part of the ***Troubadour Music Festival*** on Sept 21 – 7pm, for info: https://troubadourfestival.ca/film/

Directed by: Andrew Slater
Written by: Eric Barrett, Andrew Slater
Featuring: Jakob Dylan, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Roger Mcguinn, Beck, Regina Spektor, Graham Nash, Cat Power, Lou Adler, John Sebastian, Jackson Browne, Michelle Phillips, Nora Jones, Jade Castrinos
Documentary, PG, drug references and some suggestive content, 82 minutes (USA/UK)

“This superlative documentary looks at the birth of the California sound, a merging of folk and rock that essentially sprang from L.A.’s Laurel Canyon.” – Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap

“A star-studded, nostalgic blast-from-the-past.” – Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate

Echo In The Canyon celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of LA’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-60s as folk went electric and The Byrds, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield and The Mamas and the Papas gave birth to the California Sound. It was a moment (1965 to 1967) when bands came to LA to emulate The Beatles and Laurel Canyon emerged as a hotbed of creativity and collaboration for a new generation of musicians who would soon put an indelible stamp on the history of American popular music. Featuring Jakob Dylan, the film explores the beginnings of the Laurel Canyon music scene. Dylan uncovers never-before-heard personal details behind the bands and their songs and how that music continues to inspire today. Echo in the Canyon contains candid conversations and performances with Brian Wilson, Ringo Starr, Michelle Phillips, Eric Clapton, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Roger McGuinn and Jackson Browne as well as contemporary musicians they influenced such as Tom Petty (in his very last film interview), Beck, Fiona Apple, Cat Power, Regina Spektor and Norah Jones.

Awards:
Nominated, Music Movies Competition, Cleveland International Film Festival, 2019

Program is Sponsored by:

Film tickets: $10 for Adults, $8 for Seniors/Students
Advance tickets are available online and at the Uptown Theatre box office one week before screening (in the evenings an hour before their first screening). HST is included in the ticket price.

Echo In The Canyon - 4PM
2019-09-19 16:00 - 17:22 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

Photograph - 7PM
2019-09-05 19:00 - 20:50, 2019-09-04 19:00 - 20:50 | Annual Barrie Film Festival
Photograph
Screening:
Wednesday, September 4, 2019 – 4pm, 7pm
Thursday, September 5, 2019 – 4pm, 7pm
Location: Uptown Theatre, 55 Dunlop St. W., Barrie

Written and Directed by: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Vijay Raaz, Sachin Khedekar and Denzil Smith
Drama/Romance, G, 110 minutes, Language: Hindi, Gujarati and English with English subtitles (Germany/India/USA)

“Photograph makes an impression.” – Wendy Shreve, Featuring Film
“The film plays around with cinematic traditions, supplying a clever little twist to the rom-com formula.” – Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
“Patient viewers who enjoy deeply felt films that take their sweet (in a good way) time to tell a small, human and relatable story should find writer-director Ritesh Batra’s Mumbai-set romance “Photograph” a lovely, charming and gently transporting journey.” – Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

Two lives intersect in Mumbai and go along together. A struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. Despite vast cultural differences, the pair develops a surprising connection in ways that they could not expect and challenges their worldviews in this wistful and funny romance. Featuring some of Indian cinema’s most popular actors, Photograph is a heartwarming and comical snapshot of life in contemporary Mumbai.

Photograph - 4PM
2019-09-05 16:00 - 17:50, 2019-09-04 16:00 - 17:50 | Annual Barrie Film Festival

2019 World Tour Paddling Film Festival - Outdoor Screening
2019-09-04 20:00 | Meridian Place, 30 Simcoe Street, Barrie, ON, L4M 1A7, Canada
Presented by

September 4, 2019
Meridian Place, Downtown Barrie
Admission: Free
Starts at dusk (approx. 8:00pm), weather permitting (rain date Sept 5)

Synopsis
Since 2006, the Reel Paddling Film Festival World Tour has been showcasing the very best paddling films. The World Tour screens in more than 120 cities around the world… You’ll be inspired to explore rivers, lakes and oceans, push extremes, embrace the paddling lifestyle and appreciate some incredibly beautiful, wild places.

Sponsored by the Downtown Barrie Business Association (BIA)

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse - Outdoor Screening
2019-08-29 20:00 | Meridian Place, 30 Simcoe Street, Barrie, ON, L4M 1A7, Canada
August 29, 2019 – changed due to weather
Meridian Place, Downtown Barrie
Admission: Free
Starts at dusk (approx. 8:30/8:40pm), weather permitting
Directed by: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Cast: Shamiek Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Lily Tomlin, Zoë Kravitz
Animation/Action/Adventure, 2018, 117 min., PG (USA)

We are going to give it another try this evening as last night we got rained out. Hoping for clear skies!

Synopsis
Brooklyn teen Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is embarrassed that his police officer dad drives him to school in a cruiser. His dad isn’t impressed by Spider-Man, who gets a lot of credit for catching bad guys.
When Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) saves Miles from a monster, the superhero introduces the boy to the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one person can wear the mask of Spider-Man. Peter Parker offers to teach Miles to be Spider-Man, but advises him not to do it like him (Peter), but to do it like himself.

Awards: 63 Wins including Best Animated Feature Film at the 2019 Academy Awards!

Presenting Sponsor:

Lawn Chair Luminata is a project of the Downtown Barrie Business Association
